They are not screwing anyone, every one of their customers has the right to not make the deal. Most people that pawn or sell to pawn shops want/need the money yesterday. Selling at auction or even on Ebay they have to wait for their money. I have bought and sold on Ebay quite a bit and there are tricks to getting fair prices even on Ebay. Pawn shops make their money off of people that fail to plan ahead, that is just how it works. I have nothing against pawn shops, they do have overhead and have to wait for the right customer to resell many items. The other issue is people cheat pawn shop owners all the time if they don’t do their homework like these guys do.
You pay fees on eBay. You pay Paypal fees. You pay a 15%-20% buyer’s or seller’s fee at auction.
Rick is right about it being a 2010-11 market. I am a collector and book means nothing anymore. I have seen very valuable, verifiable items on auction for 1/2 their book value that do not sell in a venue that is heavy on collectors. In some cases, I remember the auctions from 2000-2006, when the same item sold to the eBayer now trying to sell it. Back then, there was a lot more bidding action and people were willing to pay what something was worth. Now, they figure it’ll be relisted for less and if not, they aren’t willing to invest in it, anyway.
You can still sell junk silver, but if you check out the jewelry auctions on eBay, even 18kt with nice stones are not selling. You can sell a sterling place setting or serving piece or even a single fork or spoon, but no one is paying asking price for sterling table service for 12.
Right now, people are just paying for food, energy, insurance, taxes, car leases and mortgages/rent. Oh, and if the commercials mean anything, they are paying for phones, apps, bandwidth and minutes. And Netflix.